Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 5.djvu/45

Rh God would ''turn them away from beholding vanity. Secondly'', That temptations commonly take rise from the world, and the things of it. The lust of the flesh, and of the eye, with the pride of life, are the topics from which the Devil fetches most of his arguments. Thirdly, That it is a great cheat which the Devil puts upon poor souls, in his temptations. He deceives, and so destroys; he imposes upon men with shadows and false colours; shows the world and the glory of it, and hides from men's eyes the sin and sorrow and death which stain the pride of all this glory, the cares and calamities which attend great possessions, and the thorns which crowns themselves are lined with. Fourthly, That the glory of the world is the most charming temptation to the unthinking and unwary, and that by which men are most imposed upon. Laban's sons grudge Jacob all his glory; the pride of life is the most dangerous snare.

[2.] What he said to him; (v. 9.) All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. See,

First, How vain the promise was. All these things will I give thee. He seems to take it for granted, that in the former temptations he had in part gained his point, and proved that Christ was not the Son of God, because he had not given him those evidences of it which he demanded; so that here he looks upon him as a mere man. "Come," says he, "it seems that the God, whose Son thou thinkest thyself to be, deserts thee, and starves thee—a sign that he is not thy Father; but if thou wilt be ruled by me, I will provide better for thee than so; own me for thy father, and ask my blessing, and all this will I give thee." Note, Satan makes an easy prey of men, when he can persuade them to think themselves abandoned of God. The fallacy of this promise lies in that, All this will I give thee. And what was all that? It was but a map, a picture, a mere phantasm, that had nothing in it real or solid, and this he would give him; a goodly prize! Yet such are Satan's proffers. Note, Multitudes lose the sight of that which is, by setting their eyes on that which is not. The Devil's baits are all a sham; they are shows and shadows with which he deceives them, or rather they deceive themselves. The nations of the earth had been, long before, promised to the Messiah; if he be the Son of God, they belong to him; Satan pretends now to be a good angel, probably one of those that were set over kingdoms, and to have received a commission to deliver possession to him according to promise. Note, We must take heed of receiving even that which God had promised, out of the Devil's hand; we do so when we precipitate the performance, by catching at it in a sinful way.

Secondly, How vile the condition was; If thou wilt fall down, and worship me. Note, The Devil is fond of being worshipped. All the worship which the heathen performed to their gods, was directed to the Devil, (Deut. 32. 17.) who is therefore called the god of this world, 2 Cor. 4. 4. 1 Cor. 10. 20. And fain would he draw Christ into his interests, and persuade him, now that he set up for a teacher, to preach up the Gentile idolatry, and to introduce it again among the Jews, and then the nations of the earth would soon flock in to him. What temptation could be more hideous, more black? Note, The best of saints may be tempted to the worst of sins, especially when they are under the power of melancholy; as, for instance, to atheism, blasphemy, murder, self-murder, and what not. It is their affliction, but while there is no consent to it, nor approbation of it; it is not their sin; Christ was tempted to worship Satan.

(2.) See how Christ warded off the thrust, baffled the assault, and came off a Conqueror. He rejected the proposal,

[1.] With abhorrence and ''detestation! Get thee hence, Satan!'' The two former temptations had something of colour, which would admit of a consideration, but this was so gross as not to bear a parley ; it appears abominable at the first sight, and therefore is immediately rejected. If the best friend we have in the world should suggest such a thing as this to us, Go, serve other gods, he must not be heard with patience, Deut. 13. 6, 8. Some temptations have their wickedness written in their forehead, they are open before-hand; they are not to be disputed with, but rejected; "Get thee hence, Satan! Away with it, I cannot bear the thought of it!" While Satan tempted Christ to do himself a mischief, by casting himself down, though he yielded not, yet he heard it; but now that the temptation flies in the face of God, he cannot bear it; Get thee hence, Satan! Note, It is a just indignation, which rises at the proposal of any thing that reflects on the honour of God, and strikes at his crown. Nay, whatever is an abominable thing, which we are sure the Lord hates, we must thus abominate it; far be it from us that we should have any thing to do with it. Note, It is good to be peremptory in resisting temptation, and to stop our ears to Satan's charms.

[2.] With an argument fetched from scripture. Note, In order to the strengthening of our resolutions against sin, it is good to see what a great deal of reason there is for those resolutions. The argument is very suitable, and exactly to the purpose, taken from Deut. 6. 13. and 10. 20. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Christ does not dispute whether he were an angel of light, as he pretended, or not; but though he were, yet he must not be worshipped, because that is an honour due to God only. Note, It is good to make our answers to temptation as full and as brief as may be, so as not to leave room for objections. Our Saviour has recourse to the fundamental law in this case, which is indispensable, and universally obligatory. Note, Religious worship is due to God only, and must not be given to any creature; it is a flower of the crown which cannot be alienated, a branch of God's glory which he will not give to another, and which he would not give to his own Son, by obliging all men to honour the Son, even as they honour the Father, if he had not been God, equal to him, and one with him. Christ quotes this law concerning religious worship, and quotes it with application to himself; First, To show that in his estate of humiliation he was himself made under this law: though, as God, he was worshipped, yet, as Man, he did worship God, both publicly and privately. He obliges us to no more than what he was first pleased to oblige himself to. Thus it became him to fulfil all righteousness. Secondly, To show that the law of religious worship is of eternal obligation: though he abrogated and altered many institutions of worship, yet this fundamental law of nature—That God only is to be worshipped, he came to ratify, and confirm, and enforce upon us.

V. We have here the end and issue of this combat, v. 11. Though the children of God may be exercised with many and great temptations, yet God will not suffer them to be tempted above the strength which either they have, or he will put into them, 1 Cor. 10. 13. It is but for a season that they are in heaviness, through manifold temptations.

Now the issue was glorious, and much to Christ's honour; for,

1. The Devil was baffled, and quitted the field; Then the Devil leaveth him, forced to do so by the power that went along with that word of command, Get thee hence, Satan. He made a shameful and inglorious retreat, and came off with disgrace; and the more daring his attempts had been, the more